Kira POV
We slept badly that night. What Shou Tucker had done was still on everyone's mind, and nobody in our group would ever forgive him.
I decided to get a new mask that day. I went around the market; Yu and Mitsuki remembered where masks were sold, and I bought a plain mask; no marking or artwork anywhere. It was a diamond shape, with a giant '+' hole that allowed me to see. I liked it, but it was a pity that it didn't give extra stats.
"Hey Kira, it's time for us to depart." Yu motioned to me. I looked at our carriage. It was quite a large carriage, able to fit six people on at once. Clearly they looked for full parties. 'Only full parties would be able to afford their costs.'
Our method of transport was obviously maintained. The wheels were oiled and the horses were clean. They had food, water prepared and they were kept in good health.
The carriage itself was not flashy, at least on the outside. The doors were black, the wheels were black; in fact, everything was black. They did this in order to remain inconspicuous.
The inside, however, spacious and comfortable. There were pillows and reclining chairs. It seemed to be Endless online's version of a limousine.
"Well, do you like the carriage?" The child, Ciel, approached me. "Yes. Thank you."
"I remember you mentioning that we will be sharing this." I asked Ciel. "Who is coming with us?" He sat at the diver's seat with the help of his butler and smiled. "They will be here soon, and if they wish to tell you their identity, they will. For now, we wait. There are fifteen minutes until departure, so please make yourselves comfortable."
I nodded and went inside. Yu and the rest were already sitting down. Yu, Dylan and Mitsuki took all the seats on one side. Tohka, with a grin on her face, patted the seat next to her. I helplessly sighed and sat next to her. She kept smiling throughout the time we waited.
At exactly 15 minutes after I had talked to Ciel, I heard someone shouting at the carriage. "Wait for me!!" It was a girl.
She wore black leather armour. It covered most parts of her body, giving it the maximum amount of protection possible. There was 50/50 chance that she was the 'archer' class. Most archers were elves due to natural affinity, but human archers also existed and were useful to have. The other class she could be was the rouge/thief class. These fought with two daggers or knives, and were good scouts. Their class would later go on to be assassin.
'She clearly isn't a girl that likes to show off her body to attract easy money and equipment. She got it herself.' I looked at the faces of my teammates and apparently Dylan had the same thought as me... I had a bit of respect for her, but not as much as I respected Tohka.
"Hello there!" She cheerfully said as she entered and sat down. We all had our weapons in our inventories, and nobody would get it out unless we were attacked by bandits.
"Hello." We all gave her a short reply.
"That's everyone." Ciel's voice could be heard. "Let's ride, Sebastian." (commas are important)
"Yes my lord." With the crack of a whip, we set off. "By the way, we will not be stopping untill we get to your destination. Bandits will be handled by me, so sleep to your hearts content." Sebastian's voice came through. 'Pity the exp will not belong to us, but oh well.' I looked at Tohka."Hey, I am going to log off to train for a competition. I will be back after a while, so please don't worry." She nodded, as though she dislike the thought of me leaving her. I patted her head and logged off.
'Let's eat.'
After I ate my food, I did as I promised and went training.
Third person POV
John lived in a city where there was a dojo. Permanent dojos were rather rare in his county, but thankfully there was one such dojo that allowed practice for anyone. For a price, off course...
John walked to the dojo. He wore baggy clothing and he carried a bag with water, snacks and a sword.
Arriving at the dojo, he greeted the other practitioners by bowing, and they immediately bowed back.
In martial arts, which originated in Japan, bowing was done as a greeting as well as showing respect. The lower the bow, the more respect they held for that person.
John started with a warm-up that was useful for the entire body. He did stretches, exercises. He did break falls and the shadow-throwing. He was going to practice judo.
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"Does anyone want to spar with me?" John called out and everyone but one hurriedly shook their heads. John sighed. "Please." Still, no-one came.
"You shouldn't have hurt them as you have done young master." A elderly voice came from behind. John smiled as he turned round and faced the old man.
"Hello there." He bowed and the man bowed back. The old man grey hair and had a walking stick. His days of fighting were over, but he still taught.
"So can you please make someone volunteer to be my partner? I have the family meeting later this week and in a months time I have the families competition."
The old man sighed. "Well if I was thirty years younger this old man would have fought you, but now..." He sighed again. "I guess... You!" He pointed to a boy John's age. "Do some judo randori with John!" The boy breathed a sigh of relief and came up to face John. 'At least there are no punches in judo.'
They were both in judogi, the 'uniform' of a practitioner of judo. They bowed. The old man looked at both fighters. "Hajime!"
John shot out his arm, grabbing the lapel of his opponent's judogi and pulled his opponent down.
The teen stumbled, but managed to grip John's sleeve, stopping himself from falling. John switched grips; with his right hand he held his opponent's right-hand sleeve and with his left hand he gripped just behind the neck.
He pulled with both hands, making the other guy lose balance. John stepped into the stumbling guy and rolled back. He lightly kicked his left leg into the back of the uki's thigh, sending him over John. With a bam, the opponent landed on his back. "Ippon!" The elder shouted.
They bowed to each other. The elder walked up to John, the victor of the bout.
"Nice fight, but it was over too quickly." The elder commented. "You need to go easy on your opponents so they can learn from their fights with yo-" The elder was interrupted by the revving of a motorcycle.
'Who is that?' Everyone had the same thought. The door burst open and two male teenagers walked in.
"Hello there!" The guy talking was evidently rude. He wore a male black uniform and his blonde hair was styled up like an anime character. His friend behind him was taller and slightly more muscular. His dark brown hair was the same colour as his skin. His impassive face stared at everyone.
"We are here to conquer this dojo! So..." He spread his arms dramatically. "Who will face me."
John looked around and everyone was looking at him. The elder patted his shoulder. "With this guy you can swap. Just don't hurt him too much."
John closed his eyes and smiled. "I guess it is my turn now." He turned to face the guy.
"I will be your opponent. How shall we fight?" The guy grinned. "Hand-to-hand combat." The members of the dojo winced. John was proficient in all the martial arts the dojo had offered. He studied diligently; he had to.
This particular dojo taught several martial arts, including Judo, Jujutsu and Taekwondo.
"Sure. Prepare to lose."
The guy snorted and faced John. "We fight until the other cannot continue."
The elder sighed and stood to the side of them. He brought his arms together with a shout.
"Hajime!"
John's opponent put up his guard, peeking through the gap. John did no such thing.
He started off as though boxing; a jab, another jab and a hook. The guy blocked all of them. "I'm known as the hero hunter. Don't think you can win!" John spun round with a kick, aiming for the head.
The hero hunter raised both arms to block, falling for the trap.
John's leg hit his guard. His attack was stopped and his opponent sneered at him. He smiled back. He hooked his leg through the guard and sharply brought his leg down. "Guard breaker..." The other disciples muttered in wonder.
John did not waste the chance. He didn't allow his foot to hit the floor; instead, he used it as lever for his next attack. Twisting his body along with his foot, John hit the hero hunter in the temple with the palm of his hand.
With a shocked look, the man's eyes rolled into the back of his head and fell down.
"Sonomade! John wins!"